{"id":574339,"date":"2026-02-15T19:14:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T19:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/574339\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T19:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T19:14:16","slug":"wyatt-langford-wants-whatevers-best-as-rangers-work-out-plan-for-him-evan-carter-in-cf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/574339\/","title":{"rendered":"Wyatt Langford wants \u2018whatever\u2019s best\u2019 as Rangers work out plan for him, Evan Carter in CF"},"content":{"rendered":"

SURPRISE, Ariz. \u2014 Texas Rangers<\/a> outfielder Wyatt Langford spent his offseason in Florida, split between Trenton and Jacksonville, where he hunted, contemplated how to lower his strikeout rate and considered ways to avoid soft tissue injuries. <\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t spend much time in a panic over his defensive position. <\/p>\n

Or, really, any time at all. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d Langford said Sunday before the club\u2019s first full-squad workout. \u201cWhatever\u2019s best for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Rangers have five weeks to determine how to best use Langford \u2014 a Gold Glove finalist last season in left field<\/a> \u2014 in their outfield alongside former top prospect Evan Carter. Langford played the majority of his major league career in left but his athleticism and range profile well in center. Carter, a speed threat whose largest hurdle has been availability, is a natural center fielder and played the position nearly full time when healthy last season. <\/p>\n

Rangers manager Skip Schumaker has maintained that both Langford and Carter are capable center fielders with high upside at the position. He acknowledged at December\u2019s winter meetings<\/a> that there have been \u201cconversations\u201d about Langford\u2019s future in center and said that Carter can certainly handle the corners. <\/p>\n

Schumaker said Sunday that health \u2014 and, more specifically, an alignment that best mitigates usage injuries for each individual over the course of a season \u2014 may ultimately drive the decision. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really good when those guys are on the field,\u201d Schumaker said. \u201cIs there more wear and tear in center field? Is there more wear and tear in left field? Right field? We\u2019re trying to figure all of that out and what that looks like for each player to keep them healthy for 162.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Rangers left fielder Evan Carter (32) catches a ball off the bat of Seattle Mariners third baseman Josh Rojas for an out during the ninth inning, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Arlington. The Mariners defeated the Rangers 4-0.<\/p>\n

El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Carter said last month<\/a> that he doesn\u2019t \u201creally care\u201d where he plays so long as it benefits the team. Langford took the same approach Sunday and said that the differences between left and center are only marginal. <\/p>\n

Langford has an edge over Carter in defensive runs saved (6 to 4), outs above average (5 to 4) and defensive value (4.5 to 1.9) at the position since his big league debut two seasons ago. He\u2019s played only two fewer games than Carter in center in that span due in large part to the latter\u2019s substantial injury history. Carter has missed exactly two-thirds of all regular season games since the start of the 2024 season and taken five trips to the injured list. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe can play both positions so it doesn\u2019t matter who\u2019s where,\u201d Langford said. \u201cIt\u2019s just whatever\u2019s best for, obviously, both of us staying on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newly acquired Brandon Nimmo in line to take over as Texas Rangers\u2019 new leadoff hitter<\/a>Texas Rangers add veteran Mark Canha on minor league deal for right-handed hitting depth<\/a><\/p>\n

Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SURPRISE, Ariz. \u2014 Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford spent his offseason in Florida, split between Trenton and Jacksonville,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2393],"tags":[5,3417,2266,4,149,14902,185,1567,69,3240,385],"class_list":{"0":"post-574339","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas-rangers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-brief","10":"tag-evan-carter","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-rangers","13":"tag-skip-schumaker","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-texas-rangers","17":"tag-texasrangers","18":"tag-wyatt-langford"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116076247638634039","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}